Police said a search warrant produced phone records, video surveillance images and forensic evidence against him.

Blanca Lainez, of East Boston, was found dead inside a garage near 54 Princeton St. She was days away from turning 19.

"They told me that was her boyfriend," Luis Romero said, a friend of Lainez. "She was hanging with the wrong guy at the wrong time."

A construction worker found her body last month and said she was face down and bloodied.

"This arrest is evidence of our commitment to justice for the victims and survivors of homicide," Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said. "I pray that this arrest brings some level of comfort to the family."

The victim was from El Salvador. On a GoFundMe page, her sister says Lainez was the youngest of 16 children.